MONTREAL, Qc. - Though badly outshot, the Canadiens took early chances and a late scoring burst to secure a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings Friday night.
That, despite being outshot 46-20 by the visitors. But what few chances the Canadiens had, they took.
Five shots into the their offensive attack, they had two goals. And three into their first eleven.
Los Angeles had none into their first 28.
"We had a lot of really good chances," Kings boss Darryl Sutter said. "We totally dominated the first period. I think Carey Price was really, really good, wasn't he?"
Yes, he was.
Carey Price stopped 44 shots in net for the Canadiens (19-10-2) as they take the first two in a four-game homestand, defeating Vancouver three days ago.
"He's a great goaltender and he has the ability to make great saves," P.K. Subban said of Price. "There's only a few goaltenders in the league that can do that and he's definitely one of them."
Jiri Sekac struck first for Montreal on only their third shot against Martin Jones, a power-play chance at 8:16, four seconds after LA's Drew Doughty sat for interfering with Max Pacioretty.
Tomas Plekanec and P.K. Subban exchanged passes after winning a faceoff in the left circle and Subban fired a one-timer from near the blue line, redirected near the crease by Sekac, who stick was the last to touch before crossing the line.
"I felt it hit my stick," Sekac said, whose goal was originally credited to Subban before a review changed it. "The first one was given to [Subban], but it was still a goal no matter what."
"I'm more comfortable with [Plekanec] in each game," he added. Plekanec shared in the assist. "There's a bit of chemistry there."
Sekac gave the Habs their sixth and final goal at 15:46 in the third, unassisted.
As the middle frame opened, LA enjoyed a 14-4 shots advantage before Andrei Markov shot the Habs' 5th, a power-play goal past Jones.
Montreal would take the 3-0 lead into the second intermission thanks to P.K. Subban's 8th goal on the year, a strike that found his stick after some passing in the the neutral zone that set up the defenseman's slap shot.
David Desharnais and Manny Malhotra assisted on the latter's first point this year.
The Kings (15-10-5) got on the board in the final session when Jake Muzzin fired a wrister over Carey Price's right shoulder.
The goal gave Muzzin his fourth point in two games, after notching a career-best three assists in the Kings' win over Ottawa Thursday.
Muzzin's strike came on the Kings' 34th shot against Price to Montreal's 12 on Jones.
Drew Doughty slapped a one-timer to Price's left from the circle to complete the visitors' scoresheet, the defenseman's third this season, at 10:48.
Los Angeles outshot Montreal 18-9 in the third period, though the Canadiens would convert 3 of those 9 to secure the convincing decision.
David Desharnais gave the Habs a 4-1 lead at 9:47. P.A. Parenteau and Brandon Prust shared the assist after some passing from behind the net.
"I got a perfect pass from P.A. and when you get a chance like that, you're expected to bury it," Desharnais said afterwards.
Second-year man Sven Andrighetto would give Montreal the three-goal lead at 13:59 off a cross-ice pass from Michael Bournival. The Swiss-born right-winger scored his first goal on the year Dec. 6th against Dallas.
The Kings' 46 shots were the most attempted by the team this season. They travel to Toronto to tangle with the Maple Leafs on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment